One of the challenges surgeons face during surgery while connecting catheters to body vessels, such as arteries, is the difficulty of inserting and manipulating the catheters within the body vessels. It is preferred to have the catheter body comprised of a softer material so that the catheter body does not create trauma to the body vessels. However, softer catheter bodies are more difficult to insert and manipulate within the body vessels, because they have reduced body strength. One way to stiffen the softer catheter body is to place the catheter in an ice slush before inserting it into the body vessel. By lowering the temperature of the catheter body, the surgeon is able to temporarily stiffen the catheter body, which is typically made of a material such as polyvinylchloride (PVC), polyurethane, polyethylene and the like.
The problems presented by soft catheter bodies during insertion and manipulation are more apparent when the catheter bodies are made of elastomeric materials. Elastomeric materials, such as silicone, are quite desirable for inflatable balloons and catheter bodies since they are atraumatic, but suffer in that these materials cannot be bonded to other conventional non-similar materials such as PVC, polyurethane and polyethylene.
Silicone catheter bodies usually need to be structurally reinforced to provide body strength and kink resistance to avoid collapsing during use. One conventional form of reinforcement is to provide a coil integrally formed in the catheter body outerwall. This coil reinforcement gives flexibility to the catheter while at the same time providing kink resistance. Flexibility of the catheter at all times is desired because the surgeon would like to clear the catheter body out from a surgical site once he secures the catheter in the body vessel. However, a coil may not provide sufficient body strength for inserting and manipulating the catheter within a body vessel.
There is desired an improved catheter preferably comprised of an atraumatic elastomeric material, such as silicone, which has improved resistance from collapsing and kinking, and also has sufficient body strength to facilitate insertion and maneuvering within a body vessel, such as the aorta.